F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton may not be as big as Jurassic World, but it still marks another major success for Universal this year. The film has helped the studio become the fastest of the Hollywood studios to surpass $2 billion at the yearly North American box office, and it remains in the number one spot at the box office after three straight weeks. Now, it’s broken a major record in becoming the highest-grossing musical biopic in history.
Based on data from Box Office Mojo, the record was previous held by Walk the Line, which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. That Oscar-winning film has a lifetime box office gross of $119.5 million, while Straight Outta Compton, about the formation and disbanding of the iconic hip-hop group N.W.A, has surpassed that number with a total of $134.1 million — and in just three weeks!
That pushes Jamie Foxx’s Ray Charles biopic Ray, the former second place holder, to number three. Coal Miner’s Daughter starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn, and La Bamba starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens round out the top five.
